CN111183673A

CN111183673A - Base station and communication control device

Info

Publication number: CN111183673A
Application number: CN201880065191.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 青柳健一郎; 舆水敬; 石川宽; 神原惠一; 余娜
Original assignee: NTT Docomo Inc
Current assignee: NTT Docomo Inc
Priority date: 2017-10-10
Filing date: 2018-10-09
Publication date: 2020-05-19
Anticipated expiration: 2038-10-09
Also published as: CN111183673B; WO2019073985A1; US20200275497A1; JP2021016011A

Abstract

A base station used as a 1 st base station in a communication system having a core network and the 1 st and 2 nd base stations connected to the core network, the base station comprising: a network communication unit that receives a bearer setting request from the core network; and a bearer control unit configured to determine whether or not a predetermined condition is satisfied when a bearer is set in accordance with the bearer setting request, and determine whether or not to set a bearer connecting the 2 nd base station and the core network, or to suppress the setting of the bearer when the predetermined condition is satisfied.

Description

Base station and communication control device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to setting of a bearer (bear) as a communication path of a packet in a communication system.

Background

Currently, LTE (referred to as 4G) based wireless services are widely provided. In 3GPP, a wireless communication scheme called 5G has been studied in order to achieve a larger system capacity than 4G, a higher data transmission rate, a lower delay in a wireless zone, and the like. In 5G, various techniques have been studied in order to satisfy the requirement conditions for achieving a throughput (throughput) of 10Gbps or more and for setting the delay between radio zones to 1ms or less. A wireless network supporting 5G is called NR (NewRadio).

In 5G, in order to realize ultra high speed, large capacity, and ultra low delay, it has been studied to use a high frequency band in which a wide frequency band is easily secured in addition to a conventional low frequency band.

Documents of the prior art

Patent document

Non-patent document 1: 3GPP TR 38.801V 14.0.0(2017-03)

Non-patent document 2: 3GPP TS 23.401V15.1.0(2017-09)

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

Introduction to 5G is a study of a configuration in which a 4G base station eNB is connected to a 5G base station gNB by Dual Connectivity (Dual Connectivity) without using a 5G core network, and these base stations are connected to a 4G core network (EPC), as one of migration (migration) methods from 4G to 5G.

In the above configuration, it is assumed that the base station eNB forms a macro cell that supports C-Plane and U-Plane, and a plurality of base stations gNB are provided in the area of the macro cell, and each base station gNB further forms a small cell (small cell) that supports U-Plane that realizes a high data rate. In such a communication environment, there is a problem that the load of the core network may increase due to an increase in signaling, considering that the handover of the SCG bearer occurs frequently with the movement of the user equipment UE.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a technique capable of avoiding an increase in load of a core network with bearer switching in a communication system including a 1 st base station and a2 nd base station.

Means for solving the problems

According to the disclosed technique, there is provided a base station used as the 1 st base station in a communication system having a core network and the 1 st and 2 nd base stations connected to the core network, the base station comprising: a network communication unit that receives a bearer setting request from the core network; and a bearer control unit configured to determine whether or not a predetermined condition is satisfied when a bearer is set in accordance with the bearer setting request, and determine not to set a bearer for connecting the 2 nd base station and the core network or to suppress the setting of the bearer when the predetermined condition is satisfied.

Effects of the invention

According to the disclosed technology, there is provided a technology capable of avoiding an increase in load of a core network with handover of a bearer in a communication system having a 1 st base station and a2 nd base station.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the structure of the EPC 10.

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing a structural example of the bearer.

FIG. 4A is a diagram showing a flow pattern of U-Plane data in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4B is a diagram showing a flow pattern of U-Plane data in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4C is a diagram showing a flow pattern of U-Plane data in the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the switching of U-Plane in the case of using SCG bearer/split bearer.

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the bearer setting process.

Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of procedures for addition, change, and deletion of the base station gNB when the SCG bearer/split bearer is used.

Fig. 8 is a flow chart of a process of deciding whether to use an SCG bearer/split bearer.

Fig. 9 is a diagram showing an example of deciding whether to use SCG bearers/split bearers according to a notification from the MME10 or the OPS 30.

Fig. 10 is a timing diagram in the case where whether to use the SCG bearer/split bearer is decided according to the notification from the MME10 or the OPS 30.

Fig. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a base station eNB according to the embodiment.

Fig. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the communication control apparatus 200(MME11/OPS30) according to the embodiment.

Fig. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the apparatus according to the embodiment.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, an embodiment (present embodiment) of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The embodiments described below are merely examples, and embodiments to which the present invention is applied are not limited to the embodiments described below.

In the embodiments described below, terms such as channel names and signal names used in the conventional LTE are used, but channels, signals, and the like similar to these may be referred to by other names.

(System configuration)

Fig. 1 shows a configuration diagram of a communication system in the present embodiment. As shown in fig. 1, the communication system includes a base station eNB as an LTE base station and a base station gNB as a 5G (NR) base station, and the user equipment UE can communicate with the base station eNB and the base station gNB through a Dual Connectivity (DC).

Further, in this communication system, a base station eNB and a base station gNB are connected to an EPC (evolved packet Core) 10 which is a Core network of LTE.

The basic processing in DC between LTE and NR is the same as that in LTE. In the DC, Master-eNB (MeNB) and Secondary-eNB (SeNB) (in the present embodiment, gNB) are introduced. In DC, a Cell Group (Cell Group) composed of cells (1 or more) under the MeNB is referred to as an MCG (Master Cell Group), and a Cell Group composed of cells (1 or more) under the SeNB is referred to as an SCG (Secondary Cell Group). The CC (Component carrier: Component carrier) of UL is set for at least 1 SCell in the SCG, and PUCCH is set for 1 of them. This SCell is called a PSCell (primary SCell: primary SCell).

Fig. 2 shows the structure of EPC 10. As shown in fig. 2, the EPC10 has devices of an MME (Mobile Management Entity) 11, an S-GW (Serving Gateway) 12, a P-GW (Packet Data network Gateway) 13, and a PCRF (Policy and Charging Rules Function) 14. In addition, a PDN (Packet Data Netw: Packet Data network) 20 connected to the P-GW13 is an external network to which the EPC10 is connected. In fig. 2, the dotted line represents a control signal interface, and the solid line represents a user data interface.

The MME11 is a node that accommodates a base station and performs mobility control and the like. The S-GW12 is the home packet gateway that houses the 3GPP access system. The P-GW13 is a connection point with the PDN20, and is a gateway that performs allocation of an IP address, packet transfer to the S-GW12, and the like. PCRF14 is a node for controlling QoS and charging for user data forwarding.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, an OPS (Operation system) 30 is provided. The OPS (Operationsystemm)30 includes a function of collecting status information such as congestion or failure in the EPC10 and transmitting notification information to the base station eNB according to the collected information. The OPS30 may be provided in the EPC10, or the OPS30 may be provided in a network outside the EPC 10. In the present embodiment, the MME11 also includes a function of collecting status information such as congestion or failure in the EPC10 and transmitting notification information to the base station eNB according to the collected information. The OPS30 and MME11 may be collectively referred to as a communication control apparatus.

When the user equipment UE performs data communication with a communication partner (peer Entity), a bearer (bearer) is set between the user equipment UE and the communication partner. The bearer refers to a unidirectional or bidirectional communication path of a packet. In more detail, as shown in fig. 3, an end-to-end bearer is formed by combining various bearers between nodes.

In the DC configuration shown in fig. 1, 3 methods, i.e., MCG split bearer (fig. 4A), SCG bearer (fig. 4B), and SCG split bearer (fig. 4C), are available as examples of the flow scheme of U-Plane data, as shown in fig. 4A to C (see, for example, non-patent document 1).

Compared to the MCG bearer structure (fig. 4A) in which U-Plane data is streamed using MCGs, in the case of the SCG bearer or SCG split bearer (hereinafter, referred to as SCG bearer/split bearer) (fig. 4B, C), when a handover (addition, change, deletion, etc.) of SCG (5G cell) is performed, a handover request (Signaling) of U-Plane is generated in the core network (EPC 10).

In particular, in the DC configuration of LTE-NR, the MCG is configured as a macro cell that covers a wide range with an existing frequency band, and the SCG is configured as a plurality of small cells that cover a narrow range with a high frequency band in the range of the macro cell. In addition, since the small cell can perform data communication in the high-speed broadband region, the user equipment UE performs data communication using the SCG when camping in the area of the small cell. In this case, switching (addition, change, deletion, and the like) of the SCG frequently occurs due to movement of the user apparatus UE.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the situation of such a handover. In fig. 5, the user equipment UE sets and deletes the SCG bearer/divided bearer every time it accesses the SCG (5G cell) area. When handover occurs frequently, the core network load may increase due to an increase in the amount of signaling. Therefore, in this case, it is preferable to provide 5G by setting the MCG bearer.

In the present embodiment, when the base station eNB determines that the predetermined condition is satisfied when performing bearer setting, the base station eNB does not set the SCG bearer/split bearer, thereby avoiding or suppressing frequent handover. This process will be described in detail below. In addition, the SCG bearer/split bearer is an example of a "bearer connecting the base station gNB with the core network (EPC 10").

(about load setting)

As described above, since the base station eNB determines whether or not to set the SCG bearer/split bearer when performing the bearer setting, a basic processing flow of the bearer setting will be described first with reference to fig. 6. Fig. 6 shows an example of setting of a general bearer in the case where the MCG bearer or the DC is not used. Fig. 6 shows a load setting at the time of attachment, as an example.

The user equipment UE transmits an attach request signal (including APN as a connection point name) to the MME11 (S101). The MME11 selects S-GW12 and P-GW13 as bearer setting destinations using DNS based on APN, and transmits a bearer setting request signal to the selected S-GW12 (S102).

S-GW12 performs a bearer setting process for P-GW13 set in the bearer setting request signal (S103). When the bearer setting between the S-GW12 and the P-GW13 is completed, the S-GW12 transmits transfer information for the base station eNB to the MME11 as a bearer setting response (S104). The transfer information includes bearer quality information (QoS), bearer ID, TFT (Traffic flow template), and the like.

The MME11 transmits the transfer information received from the S-GW12 to the base station eNB as a bearer setting request (S105). The base station eNB establishes a radio bearer with the user equipment UE, receives a bearer setup response signal from the user equipment UE, and transmits transfer information for the S-GW12 to the MME11 (S106 to S108).

Upon receiving the attach completion signal from the user equipment UE (S109), the MME11 transmits the transfer information received from the base station eNB to the S-GW12 as a bearer update request (S111), and starts transmission of uplink user data in S110.

The S-GW12 completes bearer setup between the base station eNB and the S-GW12 based on the received transfer information (S112, S113). In S114, transmission of downlink user data is started.

Fig. 6 shows an example when the user equipment UE is attached to the EPC10, but bearer setting (i.e., determination of whether to set SCG bearers/split bearers) may occur in various states other than at the time of attachment. For example, when MME11 receives a service request from user equipment UE, MME11 transmits a bearer setup request to base station eNB, and base station eNB performs bearer setup in accordance with the bearer setup request.

Here, when the base station eNB receives the bearer setup request, if it is determined that a high-speed high-quality (low-delay) bearer needs to be set based on the quality information (QCI) of the bearer included in the bearer setup request, and the like, the SCG bearer/split bearer is set if a predetermined condition (for example, if the core network is empty and the amount of signaling is small) described later is not satisfied.

Fig. 7 shows an example of timing in the case of setting SCG bearers/split bearers, and the procedure itself is described in non-patent document 2, and thus detailed description is omitted. In fig. 7, the Secondary gdnodeb may also be referred to as a Secondary RAN Node (Secondary RAN Node).

(SCG bearer/divided bearer setting availability determination processing)

Next, a description will be given of SCG bearer/split bearer setup availability determination processing executed when the base station eNB receives the bearer setup request. In addition, even when the base station eNB does not receive a bearer setting request from the MME11 or the like, the base station eNB can perform bearer setting by itself. Here, a case where bearer setting is triggered by reception of a bearer setting request from MME11 will be described.

In the present embodiment, among end-to-end bearers, attention is paid to an E-RAB, which is a partial bearer passing through a base station. Hereinafter, a bearer means an E-RAB unless otherwise stated or apparent from the context. Further, the bearer of U-Plane is set as an object.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart of the SCG bearer/split bearer setting availability determination process. Upon receiving the bearer setup request from the MME11 (S201), the base station eNB determines whether or not predetermined conditions related to SCG bearer/split bearer setup are satisfied (S202).

If the determination result in S202 is "Yes" (if a predetermined condition is satisfied), the base station eNB determines not to set the SCG bearer/split bearer (S203). Alternatively, in S203, the base station eNB may determine the setting of suppressing the SCG bearer/the split bearer. Suppression refers to, for example, setting of "N × K/100" times of SCG bearers/divided bearers among bearer settings permitted only N times, with the restriction rate (K%) determined.

If the determination result in S203 is "No (No)" (if the predetermined condition is not satisfied), the base station eNB determines to allow the setting of the SCG bearer/the split bearer (S204).

Next, the base station eNB performs bearer setting processing (S205). Here, when S205 is reached through S203 (SCG bearer/split bearer is not set), the base station eNB sets an MCG bearer or an MCG split bearer. When the setting of suppressing the SCG bearer/divided bearer is determined in S203, the MCG bearer or MCG divided bearer or SCG bearer/divided bearer is set according to the restriction rate. When S205 is reached through S204 (setting of SCG bearer/split bearer is permitted), the base station eNB sets SCG bearer/split bearer if it determines that the SCG bearer/split bearer needs to be set, for example, based on bearer quality information (for example, QCI (QoS class identifier)) included in the bearer setting request.

Regarding the bearer setting process, for example, when an MCG bearer is set, S106 to S114 of fig. 6 are executed. For example, when the SCG bearer/split bearer is set, S1 to S5 in fig. 7 are executed.

In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the SCG bearers/divided bearers are not set when the predetermined condition is satisfied, but the SCG bearers/divided bearers may not be set when the predetermined condition is not satisfied. Here, the "SCG bearer/divided bearer is not set when the predetermined condition is satisfied" and the "SCG bearer/divided bearer is not set when the predetermined condition is not satisfied" are substantially the same if the "predetermined condition is not satisfied" is considered to be the "predetermined condition is satisfied".

Example of < decision >

Next, determination examples (1) to (5) in S202 described above will be described.

(1) When detecting congestion of a device (e.g., MME11, S-GW12, P-GW13, etc.) in the core network (EPC10), congestion of a transmission path in the core network (EPC10), or congestion of any part of the device or network through which an end-to-end bearer can pass, the base station eNB determines that a predetermined condition is satisfied, and determines not to set an SCG bearer/split bearer.

By the above processing, when congestion occurs in the core network or the like, it is possible to avoid a further increase in signaling traffic (signaling traffic) caused by the flow of a large amount of data by the SCG bearer/split bearer or the setting, change, and release of the SCG bearer/split bearer.

The congestion detection means, for example, detecting that the amount of traffic passing through the device or the network is higher than a predetermined threshold, detecting that the delay in the network is higher than a predetermined threshold, or the like.

The base station eNB may collect information such as traffic of the above-described device and network and detect congestion, or may detect congestion by receiving a notification of congestion from the MME11 or the OPS30 as described later.

(2) The base station eNB recognizes the type of the requested bearer based on bearer quality information and the like included in the bearer setup request, determines that a predetermined condition is satisfied when it is detected that the bearer to be set is a predetermined type of bearer (for example, IMS voice), and determines not to set the SCG bearer/split bearer. When receiving a bearer setup request to a certain user equipment UE, the base station eNB determines that a predetermined condition is satisfied when detecting that the predetermined type of bearer (for example, IMS voice) is already set, and determines not to set the SCG bearer/split bearer as a bearer to be newly set. For example, when detecting that a bearer to which a specific QCI is set based on bearer quality information (QCI) included in the bearer setting request, the base station eNB may determine that a predetermined condition is satisfied and determine not to set the SCG bearer or the split bearer.

By the above processing, it is possible to avoid occurrence of a voice interrupt or the like due to switching of the SCG bearer/divided bearer accompanying movement of the user equipment UE.

(3) When detecting that the user equipment UE is connected to a predetermined core network or a predetermined APN based on the APN or the identification information of the core network included in the bearer setup request, the base station eNB determines that a predetermined condition is satisfied and determines not to set the SCG bearer/split bearer. The predetermined core network is, for example, an IoT dedicated core network.

By the above processing, for example, an increase in signaling due to the SCG bearer/split bearer being set for a use in which the SCG bearer/split bearer is not required to be used can be avoided.

(4) Since the base station eNB is connected to the user equipment UE through the C-plane, the base station eNB can grasp the state transition of the user equipment UE. When detecting a predetermined state transition (for example, transition to DRX (discontinuous reception state) or transition to non-DRX state) at the time of the bearer setup request, the base station eNB determines that a predetermined condition is satisfied and determines not to set the SCG bearer/split bearer.

The base station eNB monitors the data traffic (uplink data traffic, or downlink data traffic, or the total of the uplink data traffic and the downlink data traffic) with the user equipment UE, determines that a predetermined condition is satisfied when the value is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, and determines not to set the SCG bearer/the split bearer.

The base station eNB may monitor throughput (uplink throughput, downlink throughput, or the sum of uplink throughput and downlink throughput) with the user equipment UE, determine that a predetermined condition is satisfied when the value is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold, and determine not to set the SCG bearer/the split bearer.

The base station eNB may monitor a delay (uplink delay, downlink delay, or round trip delay) with the user equipment UE, determine that a predetermined condition is satisfied when the value is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, and determine not to set the SCG bearer/the split bearer.

When the data traffic or the like is large as described above, it is possible to suppress an excessive increase in the load on the core network side (particularly, the load of the 5G device) by not setting the SCG bearer/split bearer.

(5) When a predetermined type of handover (for example, (5G setup (SeNB addition, etc.), X2-HO, S1-HO, etc.) is detected in the user equipment UE a predetermined number of times within a predetermined time period after the bearer setup determination (execution of S202), the base station eNB determines that a predetermined condition is satisfied and determines not to set up the SCG bearer/split bearer.

When it is detected that the user equipment UE is moving (for example, when the user equipment UE is detected to move a distance equal to or greater than a threshold value within a predetermined time) at the time of bearer setting determination (execution of S202), the base station eNB may determine that the predetermined condition is satisfied and may determine not to set the SCG bearer/the split bearer.

It is assumed that the signaling amount increases with the switching of SCG bearers/divided bearers when lunch time, work time, or home time in an office area, such as a railroad or an expressway, or when a user equipment UE moves. By the above-described processing, further increase in the amount of signaling caused by SCG bearer/split bearer setting can be avoided. Note that both HO and mobility described above are examples in which the amount of signaling between the user equipment UE and the base station eNB increases.

The base station eNB may determine the type of the user equipment UE based on identification information of the user equipment UE, and when detecting that the type is a specific type (for example, IoT terminal), determine that a predetermined condition is satisfied and determine not to set the SCG bearer/split bearer.

The base station eNB may determine the location of the user equipment UE based on the location information of the user equipment UE, and when it is detected that the location matches a specific location, the base station eNB may determine that a predetermined condition is satisfied and may determine not to set the SCG bearer or the split bearer.

When the time at the time of bearer setting determination (execution of S202) corresponds to a specific time (for example, a period from noon to 1 pm), the base station eNB may determine that the predetermined condition is satisfied and determine not to set the SCG bearer or the split bearer.

< example Using Notification from MME10, OPS30 >

As described above, upon receiving the bearer setup request, the base station eNB can perform the determination at S202 in fig. 8 based on the notification information from the MME11 or the OPS 30. For example, when receiving the notification information indicating the presence or absence of congestion described in (1) above from the MME11 or the OPS30, the base station eNB determines that a predetermined condition is satisfied and determines not to set the SCG bearer or the split bearer.

The base station eNB may receive the value for determining the presence or absence of congestion or the like described in (1) above from the MME11 or the OPS30, and compare the value with a threshold value to determine whether or not a predetermined condition is satisfied.

The base station eNB may receive notification information indicating whether or not the SCG bearer/divided bearer setting is directly possible (SCG bearer/divided bearer setting is possible or SCG bearer/divided bearer setting is not possible) from the MME11 or the OPS30, and determine whether or not the SCG bearer/divided bearer setting is possible according to the notification information. The base station eNB may receive notification information (the above-described restriction rate K% or the like) indicating suppression of the SCG bearer/split bearer setting from the MME11 or the OPS30, and determine whether or not the SCG bearer/split bearer setting is possible according to the notification information. The operation of the base station eNB when suppressing the setting of the SCG bearer/divided bearer is as described above.

When an expected network congestion is detected by, for example, issuing emergency information, the MME11 or the OPS30 transmits notification information indicating that the SCG bearer/split bearer cannot be set to the base station eNB.

Each of the above notification information may be transmitted to the base station eNB at regular time intervals by the MME11 or the OPS30, or may be transmitted when a transmission request of the notification information is received from the base station eNB.

When the base station eNB performs the setting of the SCG bearer/split bearer, the time (the time length from the completion of the setting to the present) during which the bearer is set and the data traffic to be transferred via the bearer during the time are acquired, and these values are notified to the MME11 or the OPS 30. The MME11 or OPS30 can determine whether or not the new SCG bearer/divided bearer can be set based on these values received from each base station.

Fig. 9 is an example showing the state of the network in the case of using the notification from the MME10, OPS 30. In the example shown in fig. 9, S-GW12, P-GW13, and S-GW12 and P-GW13 other than these are provided as S-GW12 and P-GW13 for processing 5G traffic. S-GW12, P-GW13 for handling 5G traffic are denoted as S-GW (5G)12, P-GW (5G) 13.

As shown in fig. 9, in case #1(case #1), it is assumed that the base station gNB as the wireless 5G device is congested (or has failed). In this case, the base station eNB can detect that the base station gNB is congested (or has failed), and thus can decide not to perform the setting of the SCG bearer/split bearer.

In case #2, it is assumed that the base station gNB is not congested (failed) but the 5G devices (S-GW (5G)12, P-GW (5G)13) on the core side are congested (or failed). In this case, the MME10 or the OPS30 detects the congestion (failure), and transmits notification information indicating that the SCG bearer/split bearer setting is not possible to the base station eNB. Thereby, the following can be avoided: the base station eNB sets SCG bearers/split bearers, and causes an excessive load on the core 5G devices (S-GW (5G)12 and P-GW (5G)13), a service interruption of the user equipment UE, and the like.

Fig. 10 shows an example of timing in the case of using the notification from the MME11, OPS 30. In the example of fig. 10, the MME11/OPS30 collects information representing the state of a transmission path or a device in the core network (EPC10), for example, periodically. The MME11/OPS30 can determine whether or not a device or a transmission path in the core network (EPC10) is congested or failed according to the collected information.

As shown in fig. 10, the MME11 (or OPS30) transmits notification information indicating the presence or absence of congestion in a device or a transmission path in the core network (EPC10), for example, to the base station eNB (S301). When the base station eNB that has received the notification sets a bearer, for example, when receiving a notification that a device in the core network or a transmission path is congested, it is determined not to set an SCG bearer/split bearer (S302). When receiving the notification that the core network is not congested, the base station eNB determines to allow setting of the SCG bearer/split bearer (S302). Next, the base station eNB performs bearer setup (S303).

When the SCG bearer/split bearer is set by the base station eNB in S303, the base station eNB notifies information related to the bearer such as data traffic of the bearer to the MME11 (or OPS30), for example (S304).

As described above, by the processing described in the present embodiment, it is possible to avoid an increase in the core network load due to frequent switching such as setting and release of SCG bearers and split bearers.

(device construction)

Next, a functional configuration example of the base station eNB and the communication control apparatus 200 functioning as the MME11 or the OPS, which execute the processing operations described above, will be described. Each device has all the functions described in the present embodiment. However, each device may have only a part of all the functions described in the present embodiment.

< base station >

Fig. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the base station eNB. As shown in fig. 11, the base station eNB includes a transmitter 101, a receiver 102, a bearer controller 103, and a network communicator 104. The functional configuration shown in fig. 11 is merely an example. The names of the function division and the function unit may be arbitrary as long as the operation according to the present embodiment can be performed. The transmitting part and the receiving part may be referred to as a transmitter and a receiver, respectively.

The transmission unit 101 includes a function of generating a signal to be transmitted to the user apparatus UE side and transmitting the signal wirelessly. The reception unit 102 includes a function of receiving various signals transmitted from the user apparatus UE and acquiring, for example, higher layer information from the received signals.

The bearer control unit 103 executes the bearer setting determination process and the bearer setting process described in the present embodiment. The network communication unit 104 performs communication with the core network (EPC10), communication with the communication control apparatus 200, and communication with another base station.

For example, the network communication unit 104 is configured to receive a bearer setting request from the core network, and the bearer control unit 103 is configured to determine whether or not a predetermined condition is satisfied when setting a bearer in accordance with the bearer setting request, and when the predetermined condition is satisfied, determine not to set a bearer connecting the base station gNB and the core network or to suppress the setting of the bearer.

The bearer control unit 103 determines that the predetermined condition is satisfied, for example, when congestion or a failure in the core network is detected, when a specific type of bearer is set, when connection of the user equipment UE to a specific destination is detected, or when a situation in which the amount of signaling between the user equipment UE and the base station is increased is detected.

The bearer control unit 103 may determine whether or not the predetermined condition is satisfied based on notification information received from an MME in the core network or an operating system.

< communication control device >

Fig. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the communication control apparatus 200 functioning as the MME11 or the OPS 30. As shown in fig. 12, the communication control apparatus 200 includes a transmission unit 201, a reception unit 202, an information collection unit 203, and a notification control unit 204. The functional configuration shown in fig. 12 is merely an example. The names of the function division and the function unit may be arbitrary as long as the operation according to the present embodiment can be performed. The transmitting part and the receiving part may be referred to as a transmitter and a receiver, respectively.

The transmitter 201 includes a function of generating a signal (for example, an IP packet) to be transmitted to the base station eNB and transmitting the signal. The reception unit 202 includes a function of receiving various information transmitted from the base station eNB and storing the received information in a memory or the like. The information collection unit 203 collects various information related to congestion or a failure from a device of the core network (EPC10), a transmission path, and the like, and stores the information in a memory or the like. The notification control unit 204 determines the presence or absence of congestion or failure based on the collected information, and transmits notification information (for example, information indicating the availability of setting, suppression of setting, and the like of SCG bearers/split bearers) corresponding to the determination to the base station eNB.

< hardware architecture >

The block diagrams (fig. 11 to 12) used in the description of the above embodiment show blocks in units of functions. These functional blocks (constituent parts) may be implemented by any combination of hardware and/or software. Note that means for realizing each functional block is not particularly limited. That is, each functional block may be realized by one device in which a plurality of elements are physically and/or logically combined, or may be realized by a plurality of devices in which two or more physically and/or logically separated devices are directly connected and/or indirectly connected (for example, by wire and/or wireless).

For example, the base station eNB and the communication control apparatus 200(MME11 or OPS30) according to one embodiment of the present invention may function as a computer that performs the processing according to the present embodiment. Fig. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the base station eNB and the communication control apparatus 200 according to the present embodiment. The base station eNB and the communication control apparatus 200 may be configured as a computer apparatus physically including a processor 1001, a memory (memory)1002, a memory (storage)1003, a communication apparatus 1004, an input apparatus 1005, an output apparatus 1006, a bus 1007, and the like

In the following description, the term "device" may be replaced with a circuit, a device (device), a unit, or the like. The hardware configuration of the base station eNB and the communication control apparatus 200 may include one or more of the devices 1001 to 1006 shown in the drawing, or may not include some of the devices.

The functions of the base station eNB and the communication control apparatus 200 are implemented by the following methods: when predetermined software (program) is read into hardware such as the processor 1001 and the memory 1002, the processor 1001 performs an operation to control communication of the communication device 1004 and reading and/or writing of data from and/or to the memory 1002 and the storage 1003.

The processor 1001 operates, for example, an operating system to control the entire computer. The processor 1001 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU) including an interface with a peripheral device, a control device, an arithmetic device, a register, and the like.

The processor 1001 reads out a program (program code), a software module, or data from the memory 1003 and/or the communication device 1004 to the memory 1002, and executes various processes. As the program, a program that causes a computer to execute at least a part of the operations described in the above-described embodiments is used. For example, the functions of the base station eNB and the communication control apparatus 200 can be realized by a control program stored in the memory 1002 and operated by the processor 1001. Although the above various processes are described as being executed by 1 processor 1001, the above various processes may be executed by 2 or more processors 1001 at the same time or sequentially. The processor 1001 may be implemented by 1 or more chips. In addition, the program may also be transmitted from the network via a telecommunication line.

The Memory 1002 is a computer-readable recording medium, and may be configured by at least one of a ROM (Read Only Memory), an EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM), a RAM (Random access Memory), and the like. Memory 1002 may also be referred to as registers, cache, main memory (primary storage), etc. The memory 1002 can store a program (program code), a software module, and the like that can execute the processing according to the embodiment of the present invention.

The storage 1003 is a computer-readable recording medium, and may be constituted by at least one of an optical disk such as a CD-ROM (compact disk ROM), a hard disk drive, a Floppy disk, a magneto-optical disk (for example, a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, a Blu-ray (registered trademark) disk, a smart card, a flash memory (for example, a card, a stick, a Key drive), a Floppy disk (registered trademark), a magnetic stripe, and the like.

The communication device 1004 is hardware (a transmitting/receiving device) for performing communication between computers via a wired and/or wireless network, and may also be referred to as a network device, a network controller, a network card, a communication module, or the like. For example, the transmission unit, the reception unit, and the network communication unit of each device can be realized by the communication device 1004.

The input device 1005 is an input device (for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, a switch, a key, a sensor, and the like) that receives an input from the outside. The output device 1006 is an output device (for example, a display, a speaker, an LED lamp, or the like) that outputs to the outside. The input device 1005 and the output device 1006 may be integrally formed (for example, a touch panel).

The processor 1001 and the memory 1002 are connected to each other via a bus 1007 for communicating information. The bus 1007 may be constituted by a single bus or may be constituted by different buses between devices.

The base station eNB and the communication control apparatus 200 may be configured to include hardware such as a microprocessor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an ASIC (Application specific integrated Circuit), a PLD (Programmable Logic Device), and an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), and a part or all of the functional blocks may be implemented by the hardware. For example, the processor 1001 may be installed by at least 1 of these hardware

(summary of the embodiment)

As described above, according to the present embodiment, there is provided a base station used as the 1 st base station in a communication system including a core network and the 1 st and 2 nd base stations connected to the core network, the base station including: a network communication unit that receives a bearer setting request from the core network; and a bearer control unit configured to determine whether or not a predetermined condition is satisfied when a bearer is set in accordance with the bearer setting request, and determine not to set a bearer for connecting the 2 nd base station and the core network or to suppress the setting of the bearer when the predetermined condition is satisfied.

With the above configuration, in the communication system including the 1 st base station and the 2 nd base station, it is possible to suppress bearer switching and avoid an increase in the load of the core network.

When congestion or a failure in the core network is detected, when a specific type of bearer is set, when a bearer set with specific bearer quality information is set, when a connection of a user equipment as an object of setting a bearer to a specific destination is detected, when it is detected that a user equipment as an object of setting a bearer is a specific type of user equipment, the bearer control unit determines that the predetermined condition is satisfied when movement of a user equipment as a target of bearer setting is detected, when the user equipment as the target of bearer setting is detected to be located in a specific place, when a time at which the bearer is set is within a specific time, or when an event causing an increase in a signaling amount between the user equipment and the base station is detected. With this configuration, the condition determination can be appropriately performed.

The bearer control unit may determine whether or not the predetermined condition is satisfied based on notification information received from an MME or an operating system in the core network. With this configuration, the base station can determine whether or not a predetermined condition is satisfied based on information that cannot be directly detected.

The 1 st base station may be a primary base station in a dual connection, the 2 nd base station may be a secondary base station in the dual connection, and the bearer connecting the 2 nd base station and the core network may be an SCG bearer or an SCG split bearer. With this configuration, it is possible to appropriately perform determination of the possibility of setting of the SCG bearer or the SCG-divided bearer.

In addition, according to the present embodiment, there is provided a communication control apparatus in a communication system including a core network and a 1 st base station and a2 nd base station connected to the core network, the communication control apparatus including: an information collection unit that collects information indicating a state of a device or a transmission path in the core network; and a notification control unit that transmits, to the 1 st base station, notification information indicating whether or not a bearer connecting the 2 nd base station and the core network can be set, or setting of the bearer can be suppressed, based on the information collected by the information collection unit.

The notification control unit may be configured to transmit notification information indicating that the bearer is not set or setting of the bearer is suppressed to the 1 st base station, when congestion or a failure in the core network is detected. With this configuration, when congestion or a failure occurs in the core network, it is possible to appropriately determine that the bearer or the like is not set in the base station.

(supplement to embodiment)

While the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the disclosed invention is not limited to such embodiments, and various modifications, alternatives, and substitutions will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Although specific numerical examples are used to facilitate understanding of the present invention, these numerical values are merely examples and any appropriate values may be used unless otherwise specified. The items described in the above description are not essential to the present invention, and items described in 2 or more items may be used in combination as necessary, or items described in one item may be applied to items described in other items (as long as there is no contradiction). Boundaries of the functional units or the processing units in the functional block diagrams do not necessarily correspond to boundaries of the physical components. The operations of the plurality of (complex) functional units may be executed by physically 1 component, or the operations of the 1 functional unit may be executed by physically a plurality of (complex) components. The process flows described in the embodiments may be in alternate orders without contradiction. For convenience of explanation, the base station eNB and the communication control apparatus 200 are described using functional block diagrams, and such apparatuses may be implemented by hardware, software, or a combination thereof. Software executed by a processor included in each device according to the embodiments of the present invention may be stored in a Random Access Memory (RAM), a flash memory, a Read Only Memory (ROM), an EPROM, an EEPROM, a register, a hard disk (HDD), a removable disk, a CD-ROM, a database, a server, or any other suitable storage medium.

The information notification is not limited to the embodiment described in the present specification, and may be performed by other methods. For example, the Information may be notified by physical layer signaling (e.g., DCI (Downlink Control Information), UCI (Uplink Control Information)), higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC (Radio Resource Control) signaling, MAC (Medium Access Control) signaling, broadcast Information (MIB (Master Information Block), SIB (system Information Block)), other signals, or a combination thereof).

The aspects/embodiments described in this specification can also be applied to LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE-a (LTE-Advanced), SUPER 3G, IMT-Advanced, 4G, 5G, FRA (Future radio access), W-CDMA (registered trademark), GSM (registered trademark), CDMA2000, UMB (Ultra mobile Broadband), IEEE 802.11(Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16(WiMAX), IEEE802.20, UWB (Ultra-wide band), Bluetooth (registered trademark), a system using another appropriate system, and/or a next generation system extended accordingly.

The order of the processing procedures, sequences, flows, and the like in the embodiments and embodiments described in the present specification may be changed without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, the method described in the present specification presents elements of various steps in an exemplary order, and is not limited to the specific order presented.

In the present specification, the specific operation performed by the base station eNB may be performed by an upper node (upper node) depending on the case. In the present description, the specific operation performed by the base station eNB may be performed by the base station gNB. In a network including 1 or more network nodes (network nodes) having a base station eNB, it is obvious that various operations performed for communication with a user equipment UE may be performed by a network node other than the base station eNB and/or the base station gNB (for example, MME, S-GW, or the like may be considered, but not limited thereto). The above example illustrates the case where there are 1 network node other than the base station eNB, but a combination of a plurality of other network nodes (e.g., MME and S-GW) may be used.

The respective aspects and embodiments described in the present specification may be used alone, may be used in combination, or may be switched to use with execution.

The user equipment UE may be referred to by the following terms, depending on the person skilled in the art: a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless communication device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a user agent (user agent), a mobile client, a client, or some other suitable terminology.

The base station eNB may be referred to by the following terms, depending on the person skilled in the art: NB (NodeB), Base Station (Base Station), or some other suitable terminology.

The terms "determining" and "determining" used in the present specification may include various operations. The "determination" and "decision" may include, for example, a matter in which determination (judging), calculation (calculating), processing (processing), derivation (deriving), investigation (investigating), search (looking up) (for example, searching in a table, a database, or another data structure), and confirmation (ascertaining) are performed as "determination" or "decision". The terms "determining" and "deciding" may include taking as "determining" and "deciding" an event in which reception (e.g., reception) and transmission (e.g., transmission), input (input), output (output), and access (e.g., access to data in the memory) are performed. The "judgment" and "decision" may include matters regarding the solution (resolving), selection (selecting), selection (breathing), establishment (evaluating), comparison (comparing), and the like as the "judgment" and "decision". That is, the terms "judgment" and "determination" can be regarded as matters of any action.

As used herein, the term "according to" does not mean "only according to" unless otherwise specified. In other words, the expression "according to" means both "according to" and "at least according to".

In addition, when the terms "including", and "deforming" are used in the present specification or claims, these terms are intended to mean "including" as in "having". In addition, the term "or" as used in the specification or claims means not exclusive or.

In the entirety of the present disclosure, for example, where articles such as a, an, and the are added by translation in the english language, a plurality may be included unless it is clear from the context that this is not the case.

The present invention has been described in detail, but it is obvious to those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described in the present specification. The present invention can be implemented in modifications and variations without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention defined by the claims. Therefore, the description in the present specification is for the purpose of illustration and does not have any limiting meaning to the present invention.

This patent application is based on and claims priority from japanese patent application No. 2017-197234, filed on 10/2017, and the entire contents of japanese patent application No. 2017-197234 are incorporated herein by reference.

Description of reference numerals:

10 EPC

eNB and gNB base station

UE user equipment

11 MME

12 S-GW

13 P-GW

14 PCRF

20 PDN

30 OPS

101 sending part

102 receiving part

103 load control unit

104 network communication section

200 communication control device

201 sending part

202 receiving part

203 information collecting part

204 notification control unit

1001 processor

1002 internal memory

1003 memory

1004 communication device

1005 input device

1006 output device

Claims

1. A base station used as a 1 st base station in a communication system having a core network and the 1 st and 2 nd base stations connected to the core network, the base station comprising:

a network communication unit that receives a bearer setting request from the core network; and

and a bearer control unit configured to determine whether or not a predetermined condition is satisfied when a bearer is set in accordance with the bearer setting request, and determine not to set a bearer for connecting the 2 nd base station and the core network or to suppress the setting of the bearer when the predetermined condition is satisfied.

2. The base station of claim 1,

when detecting congestion or a failure in the core network, when setting a specific type of bearer, when setting a bearer to which specific bearer quality information is set, when detecting that a user equipment to which the bearer is set is connected to a specific destination, when detecting that a user equipment to which the bearer is set is a specific type of user equipment, the bearer control unit determines that the predetermined condition is satisfied when movement of a user equipment as a target of bearer setting is detected, when the user equipment as the target of bearer setting is detected to be located in a specific place, when a time at which the bearer is set is within a specific time, or when an event causing an increase in a signaling amount between the user equipment and the base station is detected.

3. The base station according to claim 1 or 2,

the bearer control unit determines whether or not the predetermined condition is satisfied based on notification information received from an MME or an operating system in the core network.

4. Base station according to any of claims 1 to 3,

the 1 st base station is a main base station in dual connectivity, the 2 nd base station is a secondary base station in dual connectivity, and the bearer connecting the 2 nd base station with the core network is an SCG bearer or an SCG split bearer.

5. A communication control apparatus in a communication system having a core network and a 1 st base station and a2 nd base station connected to the core network, the communication control apparatus comprising:

an information collection unit that collects information indicating a state of a device or a transmission path in the core network; and

and a notification control unit that transmits, to the 1 st base station, notification information indicating whether or not a bearer connecting the 2 nd base station and the core network can be set or a setting for suppressing the bearer, based on the information collected by the information collection unit.

6. The communication control apparatus according to claim 5,

the notification control unit transmits notification information indicating that the bearer is not set or setting of the bearer is suppressed to the 1 st base station when congestion or a failure in the core network is detected.